When a data storage system at a customer location suffers a hardware failure, a field technician typically visits the customer location to repair or replace failed hardware. Types of data storage system hardware which may require repair or replacement include disk drives, control circuitry (e.g., storage processors, front-end director modules, back-end director modules, blades, etc.), memory boards, network adapters, and power supplies, among other things.
Prior to the customer location visit, the technician typically prints out a comprehensive repair manual (or primus document) which describes a variety of possible situations which the technician may encounter at the customer location, and procedures for handling such situations. The technician brings this repair manual to the customer location along with replacement hardware unless such hardware is already present at the customer location.
Once the technician arrives at the customer location, the technician diagnoses the situation using the repair manual as a reference, and performs a hardware replacement (or repair) operation to bring the data storage system back to proper working condition. Afterward, the technician typically fills out a debriefing report which provides details of the visit, and submits the debriefing report, perhaps along with failed hardware, back to a home office. Such a submission may be useful for a back-end root cause analysis in order to spot failure trends and identify causes, and thus improve future products, services and problem solving routines.